A Day of Respite for the Woman Who Holds my Heart
by Scott-105
Summary: Inuyasha and the rest of the group arrive in a village. Miroku goes off on his own, everyone expecting him to be with one of his girls. He has something different on his mind.


As Inuyasha and his group were walking along in their search for the evil Naraku, they saw a small village on the horizon.

"Is this the village? I hope so…" Miroku thought to himself, starting to shake a little bit.

Kagome noticed his shaking and asked, "Is everything alright, Miroku-sama?"

"I'm fine," was all he said.

However, as much as he tried to stop his shaking, he couldn't. The excitement for what he wanted to do was overwhelming him.

Kagome whispered to Sango, "Do you think he's alright?"

"The village up ahead is probably home to one of his many girls," Sango replied bitterly.

Kagome noticed the sadness in her voice, and chose not to say anything. Little did they know, Miroku was shaking for a completely different reason.

The rest of the walk was slightly awkward due to the tension in the air. Shippo kept trying to lighten the mood by making jokes at Inuyasha's expense. Inuyasha was not pleased with this, and started retaliating with physical violence towards Shippo. Shippo begged and begged for him to stop, but he would not let up. It stopped when Kagome yelled, "Sit, boy!" This angered Inuyasha even more, but he and Shippo stopped fighting, thankfully. Although Shippo was attempting to make the walk less uncomfortable, he made it slightly worse. It was an awkward circle of anger: Kagome was angry with Inuyasha, Inuyasha was angry with Shippo, and Sango was angry with Miroku.

After the long, awkward walk, the group finally arrived in the village by late morning. As soon as they got there, Miroku exclaimed, "There's something I must do! Regretfully, none of you can join me. I'll be back later."

Sango asked, "Can I come, at least? Don't you want some company?"

Miroku replied, "Thank you for the offer my beloved Sango, but I have to do this on my own. I hope that's okay with you…"

She replied with a simple, "it's okay, just be quick."

As Miroku walked away, all Sango could do was think, "You lecherous monk!" She was sure Miroku had a plan to meet with an old woman of his.

As the group waited for Miroku's return, Inuyasha was beginning to become very irritated.

"What is that fool doing? We need to be hunting for Naraku!" he yelled.

Inuyasha noticed Sango was sulking under the shade of a tree. Kilala hissed angrily at him.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked with an insensitive tone.

"What do you think is wrong?! Inuyasha, how are you so clueless all the time?" Shippo answered in Sango's place.

Inuyasha seemed very confused. "I don't get it, what did I do wrong?" he asked, as he went to sit by himself.

Sango grasped Kilala a little tighter for some comfort. Kagome went over and sat beside Sango, attempting to cheer her up as well.

"Miroku's really gotten to you huh?" she asked.

"Yeah, I just don't understand him. First, he asks me to marry him. Then, he said I'm the one who holds his heart, yet he still goes out to see girls of his past? Does he really love me? I don't know if things are going to work out between him and I…" Sango explained to Kagome.

"I'm sure it's something else Sango…I don't think he would do that to you. I can tell by the look in his eyes when he stares at you that he really does love you." Kagome said in a calming tone.

After a long pause, Sango wiped the tears from her eyes, and asked, "You really think so?"

"Of course! I wouldn't lie to you, Sango."

"Thank you, Kagome. I feel much better now." Falling silent, they sat and waited around for Miroku.

While the group was waiting around for Miroku, the monk in question was preparing to surprise Sango. He was right when he suspected this village was one he had been to before that had a large bathhouse. He made a reservation for two there, and asked the operators if they had a kitchen he could use. They offered to cook him a fine meal, free of charge, but Miroku declined. He wanted to cook for Sango, to make her a meal she wouldn't forget. After a long argument, the operators let him use the kitchen, but in exchange for labour: Miroku had to scrub each and every one of the baths. He was getting increasingly frustrated doing all of this work. To calm himself down, he thought of how much Sango was going to appreciate this.

Miroku finally finished cleaning all of the baths and set out to return to the others. Once he arrived back at where they were waiting, he said, "Sango, come with me. There's something I need to show you. Everyone else stay here please, this is something that just her and I can do."

"O-okay," Sango replied confusedly.

"What are you doing? We need to leave!" Inuyasha yelled angrily.

"Don't worry Inuyasha, we won't be long!" Miroku yelled back, as he picked up the pace, dragging Sango behind him.

Miroku and Sango walked silently through the village. The whole time, Sango wondered what Miroku was doing. After walking for some time, Miroku grabbed Sango's hand and announced, "We're here!" with a smile.

Sango looked at the sign and asked, "A bathhouse? Why are we here?"

"I've arranged a day of respite for you. I want to prove you're the one who hold my heart. I love you Sango, and you need to know that. I know you thought I went out today to see one of the girls of my past." He grabbed her hands and continued, "But that is not the case. I was sorting out everything for today. I'm not going to tell you what's in store, but in order for this to be, I had to clean each and every bath in this house in order to come to an agreement with the owner. It's worth it though. It's for you."

Sango blushed heavily. She didn't know how to respond. There was a short pause. Sango's hands were still resting peacefully in Miroku's. Finally, Sango asked, "You really did all this for me?"

"Yes, you're important to me, and I'm going to prove it," Miroku responded as they entered the house.

Miroku and Sango were taken to their bath, which was full of hot water and bubbles. Sango stood there, not knowing what to do.

"What are you waiting for? I promise I'm not going to try anything," Miroku assured her.

Sango slipped out of her clothes somewhat nervously. She got into the bath and exclaimed, "Oh my goodness, it's lovely!"

"I'm glad you like it," Miroku said happily as he took his own clothes off and got into the bath. He sat down beside her and put his arm around her shoulder, pulling her towards him. Her head rested peacefully on Miroku's shoulder. He looked at her, admiring her beauty. He could tell she was very relaxed. Her eyes were closed and she had a large smile on her face. He didn't know why she liked him, but it didn't matter. She had agreed to marry him, and he was so thankful for that. He just prayed that they would defeat Naraku before his wind tunnel sucked him in. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her more than anything.

What seemed like hours passed, and the duo were still soaking in the warm water. When they finally decided to get out, Sango thought that they were going to continue their journey with the rest of the group to find Naraku, but that was not the case.

"Wait Sango, I have one more thing for you," Miroku said as he led her towards the kitchen. "This is why I had to clean every bath here. They wouldn't allow me to use the kitchen unless I did so. I'm going to cook for you."

Sango blushed again. She was very happy Miroku did all this for her. She couldn't have asked for a better way to spend a day off. "I can't believe you did all this for me. You've really outdone yourself Miroku. Thank you," she said in a happy tone.

Miroku cooked noodles with thin slices of meat. He had another idea. "Why don't we go sit on a hill and eat this together?" he asked.

"That's a great idea!" Sango replied happily.

The two walked out of the bathhouse, Miroku holding the food. They found a nice hill, with a big tree at the top. They sat under the tree, and began to unpack the food. They started eating, and suddenly Sango yelled, "This is delicious! I'm so glad you did this, Miroku!"

Miroku smiled at her, as they continued to eat. Once they finished, they packed up their things, and just sat there, enjoying each other's presence. They were both so content with the day they had. Miroku put his arm around Sango, looked into her eyes and said, "I love you, Sango. With all my heart."

He pulled Sango closer to him, and kissed her lips softly. As they pulled away from the kiss, Sango blushed yet again. Finally, Sango said, "I love you too, Miroku. I was so happy when you asked me to marry you. Let's defeat Naraku, and have a happy life."

"Yes, my dear, we shall." Miroku said with a fond smile. "For now though, we should probably be getting back to the others. Inuyasha is probably having a fit."

"You're probably right," Sango agreed with a laugh.

Sango and Miroku got back to the rest of the group. As they set off from the village, the sun was beginning to set. Miroku and Sango walked ahead of the rest of the group, holding hands. Shippo and Kagome noticed how happy they both looked.

"If only someone would hold my hand," Kagome said, her tone clearly implying something.

She sighed in frustration upon receiving no response. Shippo, being the only one to notice what she wanted, whispered, "Hold her hand, you idiot," to Inuyasha. Even though he was confused, Inuyasha grabbed her hand. The group walked off into the sunset, with the two couples being happier than ever.


End file.
